Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that Moscow has stolen drone technology from China, something he says China may not have known about. Zelensky has also said that Chinese citizens are working at drone manufacturing facilities in Russia.
Zelensky made the statement at a press conference in Kyiv on April 23. Days before that, he had directly accused Beijing of providing Moscow with military aid and weapons and ammunition.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister told reporters that he had summoned Chinese Ambassador Ma Shengkun and expressed serious concerns about China’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Zelensky said he had already instructed officials to provide the Chinese government with the results of the investigation through official channels. He separately asked Ukraine’s security service to provide Beijing with information about Chinese workers at a drone factory.
“We believe that Russia may have stolen or made an agreement with these Chinese citizens to transfer technology without the Chinese government knowing about it,” the Ukrainian president said.
Earlier this month, Zelensky said that Russia was using social media to force Chinese citizens to join the armed conflict, and that Beijing officials had information about it. Zelensky also said that Ukraine was trying to investigate whether China was giving recruitment instructions.
China’s foreign minister rejected Ukraine’s “baseless accusations and political manipulations,” reaffirmed its support for peace efforts in Ukraine, and called on the parties to refrain from “irresponsible remarks.”
Interestingly, the day after China’s response, Sinopec, a leading Asian company, resumed purchases of Russian oil after a 1-month pause. The pause was caused by fears of sanctions imposed by the United States on Russian products. Due to tariffs imposed on Russian products by the Biden administration, Russian oil exports have decreased to China and India, and Chinese state-owned oil companies Sinopec and Zhenhua Oil have stopped purchasing Russian oil. Sinopec has not yet answered the question of why the Chinese company resumed purchases of Russian oil.
